As The Years Go By
by Comix28
Summary: {AU) A look at what life was like if Sonic and the crew grew up together.
1. Chapter One: Hello Little Ones!

I am happy to announce that I now own all of the Sonic characters!! *beams proudly*  
  
*herd of stampeding lawyers appear*  
  
*eeps* all right........Disclaimer: All sonic characters belong to Sega and Sonic Team, happy?!? But I do own Maya and all the adults in this fic! Mwahahahah. So please for any bizarre reason you might wanna use them, let me know.  
  
Notes: Kay guys, this is really an AU fic because I know I changed a lot of the facts. It's just an idea that popped into my head, so give it a chance okay? Don't start shouting at me, "But that never happened or that makes no sense!!" I know, I'm just testing this see how it goes..hehez. Also this a fic focusing on only the main Sonic X furries. No Sally, Bunnie....etc...(sorry if that disappoints you.) All right enough babbling, please read!!  
  
As The Years Go By...  
  
Chapter One: Hello little One  
  
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The morning was bright and sunny with birds singing making everything seem calm and peaceful for the moment. At least it seemed that way outside a certain building concealed within trees. Inside a young kitsune woman flattened her ears slightly as the sound of children screaming assaulted them.  
  
"Oh, boy." Maya sighed softly blowing her chestnut colored bangs out of her hazel eyes. She then nervously rubbed her tan colored fur on her arms before taking a deep breath and preparing herself for the chaos that she was sure to find in the next room.  
  
The room itself was large enough to be easily called an indoor playground. The floor was made of soft padding and toys were spread throughout. However, children of all shapes and sizes made sure that the room wasn't silent as they happily shouted their enjoyment immersed in their games. A constant blue blur flashed in and out of her vision but she chose to not pay mind to it, thinking it was cruel trick due to the lighting's fault. As she watched the children she couldn't help but begin to feel a little emotional knowing that they were all there because they were orphans. Not only orphans but survivors as well, like she was.  
  
It wasn't too long ago that a mechanical engineer known only as Doctor Robotnik had gone insane with the idea of power and had used his mechanical know how to create powerful robots that had easily demolished their home, Mobotropolis. Hundreds had perished in the attack, hundreds more in the attempt to fight back. Those who survived were forced to surrender to his rule, having given up all hope. However, those who had not given up hope and had managed to escape the oppressing rule, became part of the resistance and were now in this place. It had once been a property owned by a wealthy family, including acres of land, a large mansion, and personal houses for each of the servants they had. It was also conveniently placed in an area that was concealed by trees for their own privacy. Sadly the family had also perished during the attack so they were free to use the facilities for their purpose.  
  
"Maya!! Thank goodness you're here!!" called out a familiar, yet distressed voice to her snapping her out of her thoughts.  
  
She turned slowly spotting a dark brown colored rabbit approaching her, one ear drooping at it's peak and the other being pulled down into the mouth.......... of a tiny red echidna?!?  
  
Following her friend's gaze the rabbit sighed deeply. "Apparently he's teething...."  
  
The tiny red echidna helped her statement by pulling her ear down harder to get it further into his mouth making her yelp.  
  
Maya couldn't help but chuckle at this. "I think you are right Simone. He is cute though." she added as she gently reached out to tickle the child slightly. He gave a short laugh but continued to hold on to the poor rabbit's ear.  
  
"Take him from me, please!!" Simone finally exclaimed her crystal blue eyes watering.  
  
"Fine, fine. Don't be such a wuss." The kitsune teased playfully as she gently extracted the displeased echidna from her friend's ear. "Are you........choosing him?" she suddenly asked quietly.  
  
Simone's eyes softened as she responded just as quietly, "I......don't know. It's just that...I already picked four and I don't want to rush into getting my last one."  
  
"I see."  
  
Maya looked down at the five tiny bracelets she held in her hands. She was here to choose five children that she felt comfortable with and commit herself to being responsible for them. It was something that the resistance had thought of on the account that not many adults had joined and that they had saved so many orphans of all ages. The children literally outnumbered them 30 to 10. So it had been decided that while five adults and the adolescents did what they could in the fight against the madman, five others would care for the remaining 25 smaller children.  
  
The five adults would each be assigned five children of their choosing as it would have been ridiculous to try to care for all at once. They would then live in one of the servant's houses, the mansion being the main base of operations. But, even though everyone would see each other constantly, it still made her feel bad to have to separate them.  
  
With a deep sigh Maya looked down at the little red being in her arms. He had fallen asleep sucking his thumb. Suppressing the urge to coo at him, she smiled brightly and carefully wrapped a bracelet with her name on it around his arm before laying him in one of the play pens.  
  
Smirking Simone raised an eyebrow. " You just couldn't wait to snatch him out of my arms could you?"  
  
"Got that right!" Maya laughed as she started walking forward intent on choosing her next child when something small bumped into her leg, looking down she realized it was a ball. She looked for its owner and soon saw a small black hedgehog with red stripes on his tiny quills crawling towards her.  
  
"Hey there little guy." she cooed bending down to his level expecting him to stop in front of her.  
  
He merely looked at her and pushed his ball again still crawling after it playing his own little game. She was taken aback by his attitude at such a young age but continued to watch him.  
  
Eventually the ball wedged itself between the cracks of a door and the hedgehog only stared at it. She saw this as her opportunity and she went to retrieve his ball. This earned her a smile from him as he stared up at her curiously. He intrigued her greatly and with great care she placed one of her bracelets around his arm as well.  
  
Time passed and the children were slowly disappearing from the room as the other adults had taken them to their new home already. Maya looked around to choose three children out of seven. It had become almost like a competition now, apparently another adult fell in love with a sixth child and was allowed to claim responsibility for it. It was down to her and another adult, a cat named Kayla to have their pick but Maya didn't really care about which ones she got she would have claimed them all if she could have. It was finding them that was getting hard. Some had wondered off to another room, others had an instinct for hiding places. It also began to disturb her that she would occasionally see the same blue blur she had seen earlier.  
  
"Kayla, this is getting frustrating! I can't see any more, but I know there has to be at least seven more kids in here."  
  
The black cat looked at her with calm grey eyes holding three children in her arms and pointing to a playpen with two more. "I'm done, hun. I think you should start looking for those last two in another room."  
  
Maya mentally groaned feeling it would become a wild goose chase when something unexpected happened. She saw the blue blur once again but this time as it entered the now rather empty room devoid of the all the children, it stopped. ..........it stopped?!?  
  
Looking more closely as the light slowly faded away she saw a small blue hedgehog sitting, looking around in confusion. She blinked confused as well and slowly made her way towards him. He stopped sucking his thumb as he noticed her approach and gave her a friendly toothless smile. Encouraged, she went to pick him up but his attention was suddenly on the other children in the playpen and he turned to crawl towards them, at least she thought he had crawled. She sat in even more bewilderment. One minute he had just been crawling, the next he was nothing but a blur and was next to the playpen in less than a second on the other side of the room.  
  
As she was about to approach him yet again, another tiny hedgehog made it's way towards him. This one was pink with a little bow in her tiny quills and with a smile Maya realized that she was the only girl she would have join her little group. The pink hedgehog then turned to look at her almost expectantly when she too had approached the playpen.  
  
Maya laughed. "I'm glad you have chosen me too." She then went to place a bracelet on her arm and turned to the little blue blur to tag him before he crawled off somewhere again with his gifted speed. She picked him up quickly before he had an inkling, placing the bracelet on him and he smiled at her again kicking his dangling feet playfully creating a small gust of wind beneath him. Smiling in return, the kitsune looked down at her group all of them so small and yet looking up at her as well including the echidna that had woken up.  
  
"Well, lets get going home my little family." she told them warmly having a good feeling about all of them not knowing what chaos they would cause in her life in the future.  
  
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That was kind of short and stuff but it's just an intro to the idea I have bouncing around in my head. Please review and let me know if you like it or not. I have not written anything in a loooooooooong time and it would be nice to get some feedback. Thankies!! 


	2. Chapter Two: Cookies and Naps

Disclaimer: *still running from the lawyers* I said I didn't own them!!!  
  
A/N: I noticed that I made a teenie weenie boo boo. I had forgotten that Sonic is three years older than Amy, but I didn't want to make her seem younger and wanted to put her at the same level as them. So just ignore that please? It is an AU fic after all. Thanks!  
  
A special thanks to my first reviewer Suzaku no miko!  
  
And to my other reviewer Nibbs: No worries! Tails will be in this fic. He's coming later as well as Cream. Sonic is seven years older than tails so I'm trying to keep that within the story so please bare with me whoever else is waiting for them. ^_^ and thank you very much for your reviews they make my day!  
  
As The Years Go By....  
  
Chapter Two: Cookies and Naps  
  
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A pair of emerald eyes peeked out carefully, its owner not wanting to be seen. Then, with perfect timing, it attacked.  
  
"Hi pwetty girl!!" it shouted happily right into the ear of the taller red echidna whose back it was clinging to.  
  
"Grr. Get off Amy! I no pwetty girl! I'm a boy!"  
  
"But Knuckles, you are wed!" (A/N: wed=red.)  
  
Knuckles looked at his red fur confused by the pink hedgehog's explanation. "So?"  
  
"Wed is for girls! So you a girl, a pwetty girl!"  
  
It was then that Knuckles let out a scream of frustration making a nearby Maya laugh since this conversation went on everyday.  
  
"I'm wed cause....cause I'm wed! But I'm a boy so there!"  
  
Puffing out her cheeks in frustration as well, Amy quickly answered, " Kay you big meanie girl." Then she walked away leaving Knuckles grabbing his head in annoyance.  
  
Walking into another room Amy stumbled upon another argument underway.  
  
"Like this."  
  
"No, like this."  
  
"Like this."  
  
"No, like this!"  
  
"Like this!!!"  
  
"No! Like this!"  
  
Cocking her head to the side in confusion, she could not understand why the placement of building blocks was so important. Yet the black and blue hedgehog continued to argue. Irritated by their yelling she decided to interrupt.  
  
"Hi Sonic, Shadow!" she chirped cheerfully.  
  
"Hi Amy...." answered Sonic sulkily as he watched Shadow yet again rearrange the blocks.  
  
"Say hi." he demanded impatiently.  
  
The black hedgehog looked up momentarily barely casting his soft crimson eyes in her direction and shrugged his small shoulders. "No."  
  
"No?!? Why not, you meanie!"  
  
"Cause I'm cool."  
  
"Nuh-uh I'm cool. I can wun fast."  
  
"I can wun fast too!"  
  
"Pwove it!" Sonic shouted happily before he suddenly dashed off with Shadow quickly following matching his speed. The building blocks which had caused the fight in the first place flew off in different directions by the force of their take off, immediately forgotten. Amy sighed; she would never understand boys she concluded as she began to pick up the blocks.  
  
Meanwhile their caretaker and surrogate mother was busying herself with making snacks when a strong wind nearly knocked her off her feet and she immediately knew the cause. "Boys! No running in the ....." She stopped to cringe as she heard several things being knocked to the floor making a thunderous noise."....house."  
  
She sighed audibly knowing that the sonic boom they were causing was going to make her have to spend hours cleaning. She suddenly smiled reminiscing on the fact that Sonic had gained his name because of that same sonic boom he always made when he ran and Shadow had earned his by being the only one able to match his speed making him like a shadow.  
  
"They did it again." complained a tiny voice snapping her out of her thoughts.  
  
As she turned around the kitsune had to bite her tongue to keep from laughing. Knuckles stood behind her with patches of his fur standing on end and his tiny dreadlocks pointing in odd directions, an after effect of being past by the two runners.  
  
Amy soon walked in as well looking somewhat the same, even her dress was ruffled. "My pwetty dress is messy!" she declared not noticing her own fur and quills.  
  
Giving them both a caring hug, Maya began straightening them out, her mind once again drifting to the way they had gained their names. Amy...her full name being Amy Rose, had gained it because it fitted her sweet personality. Knuckles had earned his when he had once thrown a terrible tantrum, cranky from lack of sleep. As he started to kick, he also pounded on the table he was sitting at, but the surprising thing was...the table broke in half under the pressure. It surprised them all and calmed him immediately having left him stunned. Needless to say she avoided his tiny fists whenever he got upset.  
  
Hearing hysterical laughing she looked down at the two toddlers who were now laughing at her. It was then that she noticed that her own fur had gone on end and with a chuckle she began brushing it down. After a while she noticed that the sound of tiny feet running was coming closer.  
  
Sonic suddenly launched himself at her leg laughing in victory. "I won! I won!" he cried playfully sticking his tongue out at Shadow who was frowning at him.  
  
"Nuh-uh you pushed me!" he protested.  
  
"No I didn't."  
  
"Yes you did!" Shadow exclaimed, his frustration making him stomp his foot.  
  
"No I...." Sonic suddenly lifted his small nose in the air sniffing deeply. "Whats that?" he asked turning his eyes to Maya as he held out his arms wanting to be carried and perhaps get a better view of whatever was making that great smell.  
  
Maya shook her head with a smile as she gently picked him up. He never could keep his attention on one thing for too long. "I made you guys some cookies but I guess you don't want them since you are all so busy fighting...." she teased.  
  
A quick chorus of "Pwease!!" soon followed making her laugh. However as she sat them all down she noticed that a certain set tiny paws was not reaching out for a plate with a cookie or a cup of milk. Looking around the room she quickly spotted him sulking in a corner with the largest pout she had ever seen on him.  
  
As the others sat happily munching away she grabbed a cookie along with a cup and made her way over bending down to his level. The small crimson eyes looked up at her and then almost immediately looked away. She tickled him softly making him give a quick laugh as he turned to her again.  
  
"Don't worry Shadow, you'll beat him next time." she said with a warm smile and a wink as she offered the snack.  
  
This made Shadow give her a tiny smirk as he took the cookie and surprising her, gave her a quick hug before walking over to join the others.  
  
Laughing and playing the children ate the cookies succeeding in smearing more of the chocolate chip cookies on their faces then actually getting it in their mouths. She waited patiently for them to finish, knowing that she would have to conserve her energy for the fight that was going to start soon after they finished eating.  
  
Looking out the window she saw her friend Simone walking with her group of children in the small farm area they had, probably teaching them how to pick vegetables. The children in her group were older; in fact all the other children were older than hers. It had become obvious to her over the three years that had already passed since she and the little ones first met. It became clear that she had the youngest group when all the others had begun to walk and talk clearly; her group still crawled and babbled with incoherent baby noises. It was a shame that none of their true ages was known except for those few who were old enough to know.  
  
With Maya it was easier to say that everyone in her group was about three years old. She was glad that they were so young because she did not think that right now she could handle sending them to do assignments for their resistance like the adolescents were already doing. Within the three years since the start of the program, these young girls and boys would go and steal supplies from the still oppressed city, saving those they could as well. However they still didn't feel confident in their numbers to launch a full blown attack yet. It was also felt that more training and preparation was needed for such a thing. Maya was just happy that they had been lucky, their little village had yet to be discovered and the official officers of the resistance had become more confident that they would be successful one day giving a ray of hope to everyone.  
  
A sudden chorus of "Uh-oh." quickly snapped her out of her thoughts and she quickly turned her attention to the small table. Apparently someone had knocked their milk over and it now spilled all over the table and onto the floor.  
  
The children looked up at her silently, unmoving. She had never physically reprimanded them, but on an outing they had once seen a disrespectful child get reprimanded in such a manner and since then they had always feared making their mother so angry that she would do the same.  
  
Maya raised an eyebrow at them and shook a finger at them. "All right you little buggers which one of you did it?"  
  
Their response made her fight back the urge to laugh as they each pointed an accusing finger at the other. "Well then.......you will have to be punished....." This only made their eyes widen as they looked at her fearfully. "By the tickle monster!" she suddenly yelled making them squeal in delight at the game and quickly run off in different directions. She quickly chased them, but soon gave up all hope of ever catching Sonic or Shadow.  
  
After a while she snuck away leaving them to play the game amongst themselves, to prepare one of the things she knew would be sure to wipe the smiles off of their faces and be sure to give her a headache for a while.  
  
When she walked back into the playroom she found them tickling each other or playfully wrestling. "Okay it's now time." she announced clapping her hands with a very happy smile.  
  
"Time for what?" asked Sonic he head cocked to the side in curiosity.  
  
"It's.....naptime!! Yay!" Maya called out with as much enthusiasm she could muster hoping that it would make them excited about it as well.  
  
It was a hopeless cause.  
  
"No!! No nap!!" Was the third unified chorus for the day. They then proceeded to run off again this time with a purpose, to hide.  
  
Her tail swishing in slight agitation, she knew she would have to give chase yet again like she did everyday. Thankfully these chases always ensured that they would sleep soundly when caught.  
  
"Peek a boo I see you." she said with a smile to the two tiny emerald eyes that peeked out of the toy box.  
  
Amy huffed as she allowed Maya to gently carry her to her bed. She was always the first one to be found even when she and the boys played hide and seek for fun.  
  
It was harder to find the other three boys who were constantly changing their hiding spots unlike Amy who always chose the toy box. A tiny sneeze made her ears prick and her gaze traveled to the sofa. She looked under it to find it empty and was confused for the moment until she heard the sneeze again and saw a tiny black nose just slightly sticking out from under the cushions.  
  
She gently teased the little nose making its owner sneeze again. Laughing she reached under the cushions and hugged the little being. "Nice try Knuckles." He merely sniffled before yawning in her face.  
  
He was nearly out as soon as she laid him on his bed, but he refused his small body to sleep until the other two were caught. They always had to wait till everyone was there before going to sleep. It wasn't for a feeling of security, it was making sure that they weren't being cheated or treated unfairly and that everyone had to take the much hated nap.  
  
A good fifteen minutes went by before Maya finally found her next target. It was a total accident actually. As she passed the bag of laundry, she accidentally knocked it over spilling the clean laundry and a certain little curled up with a blankie, already sleeping little black hedgehog onto the floor.  
  
Smiling at the sight she gently picked him up and tried to remove the blankie, but he had a firm grip on it so she let it go quickly. Another fifteen minutes later Maya was sitting on the couch watching a blue blur zip around the room. "Sonic.....please stop you need to take a nap!"  
  
"No nap!" the blur exclaimed as it disappeared into the other rooms and quickly returned teasing her as it zipped around in circles around the couch.  
  
She sighed; this was another routine of everyday life. "Aren't you tired? Don't you're feet hurt and eyes feel sleepy?"  
  
"Nuh-uh!!" he shouted happily as he continued to run around making Maya begin to feel dizzy.  
  
"If you stop, I'll give you an extra cookie tomorrow!" she tempted hating to resort to bribery but there was no way she could catch him unless she tried to tackle him and that wasn't going to happen, his body was too small and she doubted it would work anyway.  
  
"No!"  
  
Sighing she decided to do what she did everyday, wait. Sure enough within the next five minutes the blue blur suddenly stopped revealing a face planted sleeping Sonic. It was like this everyday, he would run around crazily refusing to sleep only to lose the fight and be the first one refusing to get out of bed when it was time to get up.  
  
Tucking them all in, she took the time to rest and began to read a book on the couch. Half way through the book she cringed realizing that she would have to go through the same fight when bedtime came around.  
  
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A/N: Well there it is! Hope you liked it! Please review and I'll give you a giant cookie with no nap attached lol. 


	3. Chapter Three: The Accident

Disclaimer: *Skips around singing* Not mine lalalal not mine! (Not even Play dough or the Looney Tunes)  
  
Thanks again to my reviewers, nothing's better than writing and actually getting a review. Please, if you do read this, leave a review. *Big Puppy Dog Eyes*  
  
Also I can kinda feel a writer's block coming on so if anyone has any requests or suggestions let me know as well!! (Besides the fact of having Tails join in cause as stated before, he's coming! ^_^)  
  
As The Years Go By........  
  
Chapter Three: The Accident  
  
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The morning was filled with the smell of a warm breakfast and the sound of cartoons blasting away on the television. On the screen a roadrunner raced off with a "Beep Beep!" leaving a grumbling and injured coyote behind.  
  
"I can do that!" Sonic exclaimed happily as he began to run around imitating the roadrunner.  
  
"Sonics silly." Amy laughed watching him run around the room.  
  
"Beep Beep!" Sonic shouted playfully while pulling on Shadow's ears from behind the couch making him nearly choke on his oatmeal.  
  
"Sonic!!" he shouted angrily tiny quills slightly bristling.  
  
"Beep Beep!" the blue hedgehog simply replied complete with the teasing tongue movements this time before dashing off.  
  
As Knuckles and Amy laughed, Shadow accepted the challenge and quickly followed assuming the role of the coyote. "I'll win this time Sonic!" he shouted as he ran out of the room.  
  
Knuckles watched them and then sighed deeply wishing he could follow but they were too fast for him and he was already bored watching the television. He reached for his oatmeal to finish it only to find that it was already freezing cold and kind of stiff making his face wrinkle up.  
  
"Still hungwy?" Amy asked not even bothering to look at her own bowl.  
  
" Yeah...a little." he answered easing himself of the high couch and onto the floor.  
  
"I can make you something!" The hedgehog exclaimed eyes dancing with excitement.  
  
Knuckles merely raised an eyebrow at her. "You can't cook."  
  
"Yes I can! Watch!" Walking over to the toy box, she proceeded to take out her play dough set.  
  
Frowning, the red echidna stared at her suspiciously immediately doubting her words. "That's not food!"  
  
"Yes it is!" Amy huffed as she began to knead the dough into various shapes. It didn't take long before she proudly offered him a square slab of clay. "Ta da!"  
  
Eyeing it warily Knuckles took it into his hands. "What is it?"  
  
"It's a sandwich silly! Go on try it, you'll like it!"  
  
Against his better judgment, Knuckles sniffed the clay and deciding as he took a bite that it smelled at least interesting that probably didn't taste too bad...  
  
Wrong wrong wrong!!! Boy was he ever wrong he thought as the bitter taste hit his taste buds.  
  
Recoiling in disgust, he quickly spitted it out onto a napkin swiping furiously at his tongue and drinking large amounts of water from his cup.  
  
"You didn't like it?" Amy asked innocently.  
  
"No!!" he shouted frowning at her. "It's NOT food!"  
  
"Hmf! Yes it is!" she insisted taking a bite of her own "food". Quickly spitting it out of her mouth as well she smiled sheepishly at him. "Heh heh, ......oops."  
  
"Oops!" Knuckles mocked with a deeper frown wincing at the taste that refused to leave his mouth making him go off in search of Maya.  
  
Maya meanwhile was watching something fairly interesting. Having wanted to get an early start on the chores, she had been in the basement doing the laundry when an all too familiar force of wind blew past her again making all the clothes sail high in the air and then fall like leaves.  
  
She had no idea how long she had been standing there watching the black and blue blur zip around the room and was confused with the occasional "Beep Beep" sound.  
  
Suddenly a shout of "Hey, don't push Shadow!" followed by laughter was heard before a black and black blur rolled out and hit the wall followed by a blue one.  
  
Nearly standing on their heads with their backs pushed up against the wall and their feet in the air, the two hedgehogs stayed, dazed. "Hey, I won!" Shadow exclaimed suddenly noticing that he had hit the wall first and in his innocence, counted it as a victory.  
  
Sonic didn't bother to reply as he watched the pretty birds fly around his head.  
  
Shaking her head with a slight smile the kitsune went to check on them making sure they did not suffer any serious injuries. As she finished, another voice demanded her attention.  
  
"Mama!!" the disembodied voice called out obviously searching for her.  
  
The name made her smile brighter. She had never taught them to call her that but they had chosen to do so after hearing other children calling their "mothers" that.  
  
(A/N: Really, what else would they call her? "Yo Maya get over here now!" imagine? lol)  
  
"Mama!!" the voice cried again revealing Knuckles who upon seeing her, immediately tugged on her leg as if she wasn't already seeing him. Kneeling down to his level she took his hands in her own showing him that he had her full attention. "What is it?"  
  
"Amy tried to posny ....poisn......poseion......agh.....make me sick!"  
  
Maya stared at him in complete confusion now. "What do you mean hun?"  
  
"I didn't do it!" Amy's voice traveled down to them.  
  
"Yes you did! You tried to make me eat play dough!"  
  
Her eyes widening, she had to restrain herself from shouting. "You guys almost ate what?!?"  
  
"I didn't do it!" Amy insisted yet again.  
  
"Play dough." Knuckles stated bluntly wrinkling his small face in disgust at the memory of the taste.  
  
Maya sighed, slightly worried. "Did you swallow any of it? Was it a lot?"  
  
Knuckles shook his head in response. "I can still taste it, am I....am I going to get sick?"  
  
"No sweetie.....just go upstairs and drink your milk."  
  
"Kay...." As Knuckles was about to turn to leave, Shadow ran up behind him quietly and as loud as he lungs allowed possible, yelled...."BOO!" making the poor echidna give a startled yell and jump into Maya's arms.  
  
"Hahaha!! Scaredy cat scaredy cat!" The tiny black hedgehog taunted.  
  
"Shadow....." an older voice warned complete with the "look".  
  
"Heheheheh....." Shadow laughed nervously having gotten the message.  
  
Sonic finally made his way over to them still slightly dazed as Knuckles was busy glaring at Shadow the best he could.  
  
"All right guys since you are already here, why don't you help me clean up the...."  
  
One look over her shoulder made her realize that she was alone the trio having done a quick disappearing act after hearing the word "clean."  
  
Upstairs the boys quickly found out hwy Amy had not joined them downstairs as she would have done under any other circumstances since she tended to tag along a lot. The pink hedgehog was only inches away from the television making the funniest motions they had ever seen.  
  
Amy continued to bounce in place waving her arms in various directions while doing so watching the television intently.  
  
"Amy? whatcha doing?" Sonic asked watching her in total confusion.  
  
"Exercising" she replied happily continuing to mimic the movements of the large blue bear dancing on the screen.  
  
"Change it." The boys demanded in unison.  
  
"No! I wuv Wuggles the bear and I was here first!"  
  
"He dances funny."  
  
"He's ugly."  
  
"He's .......hey he's blue like me!" Sonic exclaimed suddenly having finally noticed.  
  
Blinking in confusion Shadow and Knuckles looked at their blue companion with question marks in their eyes. "Yeah...so?"  
  
"So....he's cool." Sonic smiled as Amy beamed. However after a few more minutes of watching useless dancing, Sonic's enthusiasm quickly disappeared and he grew bored watching the bear. "Okay....maybe not."  
  
"Change it!" Knuckles and Shadow chorused once more.  
  
"Yeah Amy...change it already." Sonic agreed reaching for the remote.  
  
"No!" she shouted stubbornly holding onto the remote tightly.  
  
Starting to feel even more frustrated, Sonic grabbed onto the other end of the remote pulling on it roughly. "It's our turn to watch sumthin!" he argued.  
  
Now Shadow and Knuckles watched almost hopelessly and the situation in front of them was an accident just waiting to happen. The two hedgehogs were showing their stubborn qualities as best they could neither wanting to let go of the remote.  
  
Then finally, Sonic gave a mighty tug using all the strength his small body had and was able to yank it out of Amy's hands, but at a price. The force he used, and her suddenly having to let go, made him stumble backwards a few steps and finally lose his balance as he fell backwards right onto Knuckles who had been standing near him.  
  
It would have been okay if only the force of him falling against Knuckles hadn't caused Knuckles himself to fall backwards colliding against the side table where a lamp rested and bring both the table and lamp down with him. The table and lamp fell first and Knuckles landed heavily on top. The whole thing made a thunderous and ominous sound making Maya try to practically fly up the stairs in panic mode fearing the worst, that they were under attack.  
  
Meanwhile the children were in shock as they stared at the mess. Sonic instantly felt horrible and started to ask Knuckles if he was okay since he was just sitting there not moving at all. Fearful the others began to inquire if he was all right as well but he ignored them all and slowly looked down at his right hand.  
  
A rather large shard of porcelain from the broken lamp had forced its way into his palm when he landed heavily on it making a deep cut that just now slowly started to bleed. It wasn't until he saw the blood that he snapped out of his shock and his body registered the pain. Without warning he screamed in pain and began to cry hysterically startling them all and making Maya who was already near the top of the stairs, jump over the remaining two.  
  
Shock could not explain the look on her face when she finally reached the living room and surveyed the scene. Quickly spotting the hysterical echidna she ran to him picking him up quickly hoping to calm him not noticing his hand right away.  
  
Knuckles continued to cry loudly unable to calm down, especially when Maya did see the rather large shard for his rather small hand impaled in it. He squirmed frantically as she took it out as gently as possible. Once the worst deed was done she wrapped his hand tightly and rubbed his back, desperately trying to calm him at least to the point where he wasn't screaming and told the others to follow her as they headed out the door. The cut was both wide and deep and she had no doubt that the hand would need stitches so they were on their way to the mansion to see the doctor.  
  
In the mansion they immediately headed to the east wing, the designated "hospital" area. Being so young and not really having many other patients, Knuckles was seen almost immediately. Maya had the children explain what had happened to a doctor they all knew very well since he had done all their check ups, a young male kitsune with gray fur, emerald colored eyes and silky black hair, Doctor Thomas was his name. Throughout the whole story he listened attentively and smiled at them reassuringly. When they were done, he turned to Knuckles who had calmed down to the point where he wasn't screaming anymore but still started to cry anew every time his hand throbbed.  
  
"Well now little one, guess we'd better fix you up, eh?"  
  
Silence returned as a response as the small echidna hid his face in Maya's arms. "Aw, c'mon now. Don't tell me you've lost your voice or are suddenly scared of ol' doc Thomas are ya? I heard you do some pretty good screaming in the waiting room."  
  
Knuckles smiled sheepishly at that and began to rub the tears from his eyes when he accidentally moved his bad hand; making him whimper and new tears spring to his eyes.  
  
The doctor motioned to a nearby nurse who got the message and gently picked Knuckles up carrying him into another room as he waved "bye" with his good hand. "Don't worry guys we'll make him better in no time." Doctor Thomas assured the rest of the family as he too disappeared into the other room.  
  
In the waiting room Shadow, Sonic and Amy quickly took paper and crayons from the office's toy box and began to make get well cards for their "brother". Maya watched them, helping them when she could as she also skimmed through a very very old magazine. Everything was so silent and peaceful that it was no surprise that she jumped when a loud voice called her name.  
  
"Maya! There you are! I was calling you earlier!"  
  
"Simone, please, must you be so loud?"  
  
"Of course, if I wasn't, then I wouldn't be me!" The female rabbit replied happily making the other laugh wholeheartedly.  
  
"What are you doing here you crazy girl?"  
  
"Hm? Oh I was just bringing in my two young ones for their check up." She stated calmly pointing to the other side of the room where a small dog and bunny sat. "What about you?"  
  
Maya's eyes and voice softened as the wondered over to the closed examination door. "We had a little accident..and now Knuckles needs stitches in his hand."  
  
"Aww. I'm sorry to hear that. Will he be all right?"  
  
"I'm sure, it was nothing too major, just a little scary that's all."  
  
"Well that's good at least."  
  
Simone and Maya continued their conversation the children worked hard at their cards. Suddenly Shadow stopped, feeling that funny little feeling that had taught him how to leave the diaper behind. Knowing what it meant he quietly made his way over to Maya and tugged on her sleeve gently.  
  
".Gotta go potty." he whispered having been taught that he should be discreet about such a thing.  
  
But perhaps he was being too discreet as Maya and Simone continued to talk, his mother not having felt his tug or heard his call.  
  
"So, what were you calling me for anyway? Just to chat?" Maya asked casually.  
  
"No, in fact I was hoping that we could all do something together, just for some fun for once."  
  
"Oh really? What did you have in mind?"  
  
Shadow sighed at their boring conversation and tugged harder raising his voice just a tad. "Potty!" he implored once more waiting for the proper response.  
  
"Well, I was thinking of taking everyone for a dip in the pool, but I know you wouldn't want to now with Knuckles being hurt and all."  
  
"Well it would be nice .but he definitely wouldn't be able to get in and wet his fresh stitches, I wouldn't want him to feel left out."  
  
"I understand, but why don't we see how it goes? Maybe Knuckles won't feel like getting in anyway."  
  
"I suppose, but what if-"  
  
Maya never got to finish her sentence as Shadow had, had enough. His stomach was now hurting and he was starting to hop up and down trying to ignore it, when he couldn't, he yelled at the top of his lungs. "Gotta go potty!!" He yelled so loudly that the entire room heard causing others to snicker and Maya to feel embarrassed.  
  
Simone could hardly control her laughter as she reached her hand out to the little black hedgehog in the middle of his pee pee dance. "Come with Auntie Simone, Shadow, I'll take you to the potty."  
  
Shadow quickly complied not even bothered one bit that he had embarrassed himself. Within another fifteen minutes since Shadow's return from the restroom, a nurse finally emerged with a small red echidna sleeping in her arms, a white gauze wrapped tightly around his right hand.  
  
"He should be alright, he's just sleeping off the anesthesia right now. He will probably asleep for a couple of hours. When he awakes just give him some aspirin to help with the pain." The nurse informed her as Maya eagerly took him into her arms.  
  
Thanking the nurse and doctor, she walked out with her group only to once again find Simone. She was waiting outside patiently for them with her own two little ones. "Aww, is he alright?" the rabbit inquired as she looked at the bundle in her friend's arms.  
  
"He will be just fine, thank goodness."  
  
"That's great! .What about what I told you earlier? Do you feel up to it?"  
  
Maya looked from the bundle in her arms to the saddened faces of her other three children. They had all felt horrible and were taking a while to cheer up. "You know, they are taking this pretty hard, they all feel guilty so I think some good old fashioned fun will do them some good. Besides it will only be for a little while and I think Knuckles will end up sleeping through the whole thing." Maya whispered to the other.  
  
Simone nodded and turned to all the children cheerfully. "Yay! We're off to the pool!"  
  
"Yay!" the children chorused even though the three young hedgehogs did not have a clue of what she was talking about.  
  
Maya shook her head in amusement and began to follow them all to the pool area. Her eyes softened as they traveled down to Knuckles's face and she hoped that the rest of the day would be peaceful and fun, with no more traumas for the children. If only her wish would have come true for what happened later that day was even more scary and traumatizing.  
  
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A/N: Please review! Remember reviews = encouragement = new chapters! So if you want more, review! ..Thankies! ^_^ 


	4. Chapter Four: Live and Learn

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters except for the ones not recognized as being in the Sonic universe.  
  
A/N: Hi everyone! Quick note: I wish to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart who has reviewed! Your words make me smile and feel great every time I read them. You guys alone inspire me to continue writing!  
  
However having support services I have noticed that my hit count does not match my review count. Please, I ask everyone who reads this to please leave a comment. The only reason I even post my stories is the same reason as everyone else's I think, which is not only out of pride and pleasure, but to hear the opinions of you the readers. So please won't you spare a moment after you finish reading and leave a review? Believe me it makes a big difference in the encouragement department!...Sorry enough babbling...on with the story....  
  
As The Years Go By....  
  
Chapter Four: Live and learn  
  
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Maya laid Knuckles gently on a bed as she helped put life jackets on the other children. If only one certain child would hold still....  
  
Sonic bounced up and down excitedly as she tried to fasten the life jacket securely. "What's a pool anyway mama? Huh?"  
  
"Just think of it as a giant bath."  
  
"Eww....that doesn't sound like fun at all!" he immediately responded as he stopped bouncing.  
  
"It will be, trust me."  
  
None of the children seemed too sure either but they were willing to give it a try. "Okay." they chorused quietly.  
  
About a half an hour later they arrived at the pool area all in swimming outfits and life jackets. Simone waved at them merrily from her spot on a lawn chair her own two children they had seen earlier already splashing around in the pool.  
  
One was a young white female wolf with crystalline blue eyes. She appeared to be no older than eight years old and her adoptive brother, a slightly older looking brown bear with golden eyes seemed to be around nine or ten years old.  
  
Maya waved to them both as they continued their game and her own children watched timidly from the side. The young kitsune woman gently placed a sleeping red echidna on a lawn chair before taking off her own long shirt and revealing a black one piece bathing suit. She quickly slipped into the pool and held her arms out to the others. "C'mon it's fun! I promise!"  
  
Shadow quickly complied letting his curiosity guide him as Amy followed. Sonic however watched the water warily. "I bet this is just a trick to take a bath!" he called out cockily confident that he had solved some mystery.  
  
His adoptive mother laughed and shook her head. "No silly, this is just for fun. Jump in! I'll catch you!"  
  
The blue hedgehog stared at her for a moment longer before jumping into the clear warm water. As he did he let out a whoop of joy. This was fun!  
  
After teaching them how to maneuver in the water with their life jackets on and giving them a long list of rules on what not to do, Maya left the pool to lay on one of the lawn chairs and chat with her friend while keeping an eye on them.  
  
Shadow and Amy had quickly learned how to move easily through the water, but Sonic was struggling. He did not like feeling so restricted. As Shadow was trying to teach him how to "doggie paddle" the other two older children made their way over.  
  
"Hi!" chirped the very friendly wolf girl. "I'm Azalie!"  
  
"Geez, must you always be so hyper Azalie? You are going to scare people!" the young bear commented as he came up behind her.  
  
"Oh hush Zack you are just a party pooper that's all."  
  
Zack's eye twitched as he heard this but he chose to ignore her and turned to the others. "Yeah I'm Zack, who are you little guys?"  
  
"Hey I'm a girl!" Amy immediately retorted.  
  
"I'm Sonic, that's Shadow and the loud one is Amy." Sonic proudly introduced.  
  
"Hey!" Amy objected once more.  
  
"Cool."  
  
"Hey what happened to your brother?" Azalie asked compassion in her eyes as they traveled over to where the young echidna was sleeping, his bandaged hand visible.  
  
"We had an accident....." the younger three responded quietly while looking away still quite ashamed.  
  
Zack gave his adoptive sister a knowing look and motioned for her to drop it. In a short moment of silence, Amy finally noticed what it was that bothered her about the older two. "Hey, how come you aren't wearing jackets like these?" she asked while pulling at her own jacket.  
  
"I can swim!" the white wolf stated proudly as her brother nodded in agreement and motioned that the same was true for him.  
  
"I wanna learn! I wanna learn!" the three hedgehogs shouted in excitement.  
  
"Heheh all right, but you have to keep your jackets on okay?" Azalie stated giving them a sweet smile.  
  
The younger children cocked their heads to the side in confusion but agreed and soon learned that they would only be taught the movements of swimming with their jackets on. After the hard and long lesson Azalie and Zack became bored. "You want to do something else?" Zack asked  
  
"Let's race!" Shadow and Sonic shouted happily as Amy rolled her eyes. The two male hedgehogs were confident that now they could teach these newcomers something.....a little lesson in speed. Or so they thought.....  
  
Maya looked up as she saw the five children lined up at one end of the pool apparently getting ready for a race. She watched intently as one of them shouted "Go!" and the wild splashing began. The splashing was so fierce that she had to shield her face and then she laughed as Simone had become completely soaked.   
  
The race was well underway under all that splashing, but a certain little one was quickly becoming frustrated. Sonic found himself struggling to maneuver his body against the waves the others created, his legs felt restricted as the life jacket covered some of his thighs.  
  
He hated feeling slow and hated the fact that the others were so far ahead of him. Just then a thought occurred to him, a thought that he would regret for the rest of his life...what if he took off the restricting life jacket? He knew his mother had told him not to under any circumstances but he was confident in the swimming lessons he had received only minutes ago and he was sure that his speed would get him across before anything could happen. Besides, she couldn't see him through all the wild splashing anyway.  
  
Then with great swiftness he quickly unzipped the jacket and slipped out of it....only to immediately sink slightly deeper into the water. But he didn't panic; he quickly remembered what he had been taught and began kicking out with his hands and legs pushing against the strong waves as his forgotten life jacket hid itself under the railings of the pool.  
  
Sonic was proud of himself as he swam out and he was doing just fine until....until he grew tired. He then realized that it took a lot more effort to move quickly through water, and decided to rest. What a big mistake. The young hedgehog had not realized that there was a level difference to the deepness of the pool and he had been only swimming in the shallow end, now he was in the deeper part that was a good six feet deep. Very deep especially for a being who was barely three feet tall.  
  
He sunk quickly and at first he did not understand what was going on. He stared in confusion at the water surrounding him watching the air bubbles surrounding his face. He was unbelievably calm until the pain started in his chest. He gasped and swallowed more water resulting in only more pain and he began to fight to swim upwards only to remember that he had not been how to move under these situations, so he began to panic. He clawed desperately at the water as he felt himself sink deeper and saw the water get darker. He wanted to cry as the pain became unbearable and then became eerily calm as his vision started to black out.  
  
"We win!" Azalie and Zack called out cheerfully as the touched the railing of the other end of the pool.  
  
Shadow and Amy pouted as the struggled to reach it as well only having been a few feet behind the other two. They were very exhausted and breathed heavily until they caught their breath.  
  
"You're very fast!" Shadow exclaimed with admiration in his eyes. "Right Sonic? Aren't they fast?......Sonic?" the black hedgehog questioned turning around confused as to why his brother had not responded, expecting him to have been right behind him if not in front.  
  
"Where is Sonic?" Amy asked slightly worried as her eyes scanned the now calm water of the pool. There was no sign of her blue brother. "Do you think he gave up and went with mama?"  
  
The black hedgehog frowned it did not sound like his brother to give up so easily, but he did not want to worry his sister farther and nodded. "Yeah..."  
  
The two soggy hedgehogs, with the help of their new friends got out of the pool and quickly made their way over to their mother."Mama, mama! Where's Sonic mama?" They called out worry evident in their voices.  
  
Maya's ears perked at this, she had been confident that her blue hedgehog child was with his adoptive siblings the entire time. The crazy splashing had only ended a few moments ago and when it stopped she had not seen him with the others but figured that he had already gotten out. "What do you mean where is he? Isn't he with you?"  
  
Shadow and Amy exchanged a worried glance before shaking their heads wildly. "We didn't see him when the race finished."  
  
It was then that Sonic's life jacket conveniently dislodged itself from underneath the pools railing and floated out alone into the middle of the pool. Upon seeing it, Maya's heart leapt into her throat for the second time that day. Panic entered her system fully and without a word she jumped into the shadowed depths of the pool searching frantically.  
  
Simone noticed the problem quickly as well and with quick instructions to her own children to keep watch over the smaller ones, she dove in as well. Maya had to resurface multiple times for air as she continued her desperate search when finally.......a small body began to float up towards her. Eyes widening, she quickly clutched it and surfaced.  
  
Simone who had recently surfaced for her own breath of air, gasped when she saw that the young child had been found. Tears flowed freely from Maya's eyes as she quickly took the small blue hedgehog to the side of the pool and began to perform CPR.  
  
The sound of coughing was the most wonderful thing any of them could hear at the moment as the blue hedgehog forcefully coughed water out of his small body. The kitsune mother sobbed loudly as she clutched him tightly and refused to let him go for a long while.  
  
Simone and the others merely stood by watching their faces grim and were unsure on what to do.  
  
Slowly, the blue hedgehog's eyes opened as he looked groggily about. This only resulted in Maya hugging him tighter as fresh tears flowed down her face. "Thank goodness, thank goodness..." she repeated.  
  
Sonic suddenly began to cry as well remembering the fear and pain he had gone through. Carefully picking him up, Maya asked Simone to take her children home and to keep an eye on them for her as she headed towards the hospital center once more.  
  
Later in the night two hedgehogs and a still groggy echidna were once again sitting quietly watching television as they drank warm milk. They were bathed and already falling asleep but they had to wait for their last sibling who was putting up a good struggle in the bathroom.  
  
Maya had locked the door knowing that the blue hedgehog would have bolted out as soon as she had put him down in this room but, now he was holding on to her tightly and was crying so much he was on the point of being hysterical.  
  
He had totally lost it upon seeing the bathtub full of water and refused to go anywhere near it. Maya had been warned by the doctor that this might happen and luckily she was a very patient woman.  
  
"C'mon sweetie, its okay. You've taken a bath in here a hundred times before, nothing like what happened in the pool is going to happen here, I promise."  
  
"You pwomised the pool was going to be fun." he stated bluntly and she nearly bit her tongue, he had her there.  
  
"Okay, but you know this! Nothing bad is going to happen, just in for a little bit and then out okay?"  
  
"No! No no no no! Pwease No!" he immediately shouted starting to cry once again and climbing all over her, clutching her tightly as he begged.  
  
That was all it took for her heart to melt. After the visit to the doctor, she had reprimanded him gently for doing such a foolish thing, but by now she felt that he had gone under enough stress for the day. Besides she knew that he had learned his lesson, the hard way. "All right, here I'm going to show you something...."  
  
"What?" Sonic asked fearfully.  
  
"This." She answered sweetly as if she was revealing some great magic as she let the tub drain and started the shower head.  
  
Sonic's face brightened almost immediately. "Cool."  
  
When the children had finally gone to bed Maya sat reading a book and sipping hot chocolate. Suddenly looking out the window at the starry sky she hoped that she would not make any more mistakes like the ones she had done today. She questioned her motherhood instincts and worried that she was not doing a good job at all.  
  
'If I keep making mistakes like these, those poor children will never make it to kindergarten!' she thought to herself before flicking off the light and heading off to bed.  
  
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The young fox woman had proved herself wrong. Two years later she found herself packing lunches and snacks for her small children that were beginning kindergarten that day. During two years she had learned from her mistakes and had developed as a mother figure. Her children now five years old had grown and developed as well. Their personalities were beginning to shine through and she was happy for that. As always when she thought of them a smile bloomed on her face, she could never deny that she loved them all dearly despite their sometimes aggravating personalities.  
  
Knuckles, she thought, confused her. He seemed to prefer to be alone and entertain himself, but then he would also join activities with his siblings randomly. He also had a quick temper that she often had to reprimand. Sonic had not changed much. His attention span was shorter than ever and that worried her especially when he was starting school today. However he seemed to have a heart of gold and always wanted to help his siblings and be there for them....even if they had been arguing only moments before. Shadow still tended to spend most of his time around Sonic, but he began to be like Knuckles and spend more and more time on his own. The black hedgehog could get moody, but he was just as sweet as the others. And Amy.....Amy was a typical little girl. She always wanted to boss the boys around and make them play her games. If she wasn't trying to boss them around, she often annoyed them by being overly clingy and always wanting their attention. Her brothers became used to this and could not help but love her and her sweet charm she turned on whenever she wanted to get her way.  
  
"What is in there?" a voice suddenly asked snapping her out of her thoughts and she looked down into emerald eyes.  
  
She was a bit amazed, she still couldn't get used to the somewhat deeper voices of her children. Their voices had lost some of the baby like quality it once held. Though still sounding very young, it sounded more clear and expressive. "It's your lunch Sonic." she finally responded noticing that she had not done so earlier.  
  
"Oh cool. What is it?" he asked.  
  
Another sign that they were growing up was the constant questioning they did everyday, at times it made Maya want to pluck her fur out.....with a band-aid.  
  
"Peanut butter and jelly."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"Did you finish your breakfast young man?"  
  
"Yep!" he chirped cheerfully. "Is it time for school yet?"  
  
Maya laughed she remembered when she had been just as eager on her first day of school. "In a little while, we have to wait for your brothers and sis..." Looking up, Maya realized that Sonic had been the other children's scout as they were all looking up at her eagerly, their bowls empty. "I see that you are all ready huh?" The young children nodded with big grins, they were eager to see what school was all about. Maya handed them all their lunches and snacks before leading them out the door and to a house that had been designated just for teaching. Over the years the adults had built it and it was large enough to almost look like an official school.  
  
Inside the "school" were different classrooms according to the grade level. The kindergarten classroom was on the bottom floor and was decorated brightly to seem more inviting. At the door a middle aged mongoose woman was waiting for the children with a bright smile on her face.  
  
"Hello children" she called upon seeing Maya and the others. "I am Mrs. Spinoza."  
  
"Good morning Mrs. Spinsosa.er.coza..stoza?" the children struggled making her laugh.  
  
"You can just call me Mrs. S if you want."  
  
This was a relief to the children and with bright smiles and new confidence they shouted, "Good morning Mrs. S!"  
  
Maya shook her head and kissed them all goodbye as she left. The children however were not expecting that she would have to leave and were confused by her actions. They started following her once more.  
  
"Where are you going?" they asked with worry and slight fear in their voices.  
  
"Don't worry I'll be back later to pick you up." Maya assured them once again hugging and kissing them affectionately before turning to leave once more.  
  
Mrs. Spinoza gently ushered them into the classroom where their eyes widened as they saw four other children and a room full on interesting things. They came to one conclusion as they looked at each other; this was going to be fun!  
  
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A/N: *sniffles* My babies are growing up!!! .er, yeah. Hehe. I'm sooo sorry this took so long to post, but thank you to all my faithful reviewers who have been patiently waiting. And to Nick, I'm sorry I never answered your email, but I'm horrible with answering email, seriously.  
  
Big announcement: Tails will make his debut in the next chapter! Thank you once again to the faithful reviewers who have been waiting for him so patiently.  
  



	5. Chapter Five: Discovery

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters except for the ones not recognized as being in the Sonic universe.  
  
A/N: Yes, I know you are all glaring at me right now. Heh heh, sooo sorry! Again you must please forgive me, I had a nasty case of writer's block (Blame my muse..wait I've never introduced him so you can't o_0 .oh wellz. ^_^;;;) and I had some unjust problems with FF.Net so I was kinda on strike as a retaliation. *shrug* Anyway, thank you to all those who care and I tried to make this chapter extra long as a way of saying I'm sorry.  
  
As The Years Go By....  
  
Chapter Five: Discovery  
  
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'I thought it was going to be fun....' Sonic thought sulkily as he stared at his teacher explaining something called the alphabet for the third time. When they had first arrived in the morning he was very excited and intrigued by the bright room and various objects but now it wasn't even midday yet and everything was already considered old and boring. He began to shift again as he sat looking around for anything interesting to look at.  
  
"Stop it Sonic...stay still." his sister hissed at him from her spot next to him.  
  
The blue hedgehog rolled his eyes but actually listened and sat still...at least for the time being while Amy was paying attention to him.  
  
There were only seven children in this kindergarten class but with the times they were living in it wasn't surprising. It made the classroom more spacious since there was only one large round table serving as the desk for all seven children. Amy sat to Sonic's right while Shadow sat to his left and Knuckles sat to Shadow's left as well.  
  
To Amy's right there was a black cat with gray eyes and a white diamond on his forehead. Next to him as ironic as it sounded was a chestnut colored dog with light brown eyes as well and on her other side was a young bear with black fur and a tan muzzle. His black eyes seemed angry whenever he looked at any of the others making them want to avoid eye contact with him.  
  
"Okay children so let's see what you have learned today! Sing along with me now.... A, B, C, D..."  
  
The children sang along knowingly they had already heard the song twice already in the morning this was only review. Sonic barely sang along but made sure he made his voice strong as they reached the end. "...Next time won't you sing with me!"  
  
Shadow raised his hand as they had been taught earlier in the day as well. Mrs.Spinoza smiled warmly at him and his confused look. "Yes Shadow?"  
  
"Um.... Mrs. S? If we are all singing together already why do you ask us to sing with you next time? Didn't you hear us?"  
  
The middle-aged mongoose's smile brightened at his innocence as she responded. "No dear, I heard you, it's just part of the song."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"Um hm..... now class who here knows how to count?"  
  
Seven tiny hands rose into the air and their teacher nodded approvingly. "Okay so let me hear you count, go ahead Knuckles you can start."  
  
"Okay...um.... 1.2.3...um...4...5...6.um...10?"  
  
"Not bad, you did very well. Keep going children I want to hear all of you."  
  
"1,2,3,4,5,6,7,13,24,15." The black bear said proudly with a smug look on his face.  
  
"Um, well you skipped a lot of numbers there but very good otherwise Derek."  
  
"1,2,3,4...um.... what did they say? Oh yeah...5!"  
  
Mrs. Spinoza couldn't help but chuckle a little as she nodded and praised the cat. "Good Onyx."  
  
The dog, Misty had gotten correctly and gone as far as to the number eight while Knuckle's siblings knew  
  
as much as him. Their teacher was pleased and gave them all a lesson on how to count to ten properly. After a while she could tell they had gotten restless having sat still all day so far. "I think it is time to do something different. This is a free period now children. You may get up and play with any of the toys in this room or read any of the books."  
  
The children cheered with happiness as they leapt from their seats, especially Sonic who had already leapt up after hearing the words "free period". Amy shyly made her way over to the only other girl in the room. "Hi Misty...um...wanna go play with the blocks with me?"  
  
Amy's nervous disappeared as soon as she saw how friendly the little dog was. Her curled tail wagged happily as she responded. "Sure! Let's go!"  
  
Onyx sat calmly as he began to sculpt things with the bucket of play dough he had acquired. Knuckles cringed at the sight of the play dough and quietly told of him of the incident he and his sister had undergone when they were even younger. Onyx laughed and asked him to join in.  
  
Sonic and Shadow began working on a toy track they had so that their toy cars could be placed on it making them race and do crazy things. Derek had been left out from any of these activities. It wasn't because the other children wanted to be cruel, but they had been intimidated by him and were uneasy about approaching him. However he had taken it the wrong way and reacted the way any other left out kid would.... if they had a tantrum.  
  
Derek had been looking at the pictures of a book but the other children's laughter and enjoyment began to irritate him, mostly because he wasn't a part of it. His adoptive mother knew he wasn't good with keeping his displeasure to himself and he was about to demonstrate it to the others. He became like a hurricane destroying everything in his path.  
  
"Hey!" was the shout he heard from both Onyx and Knuckles as he passed by and squashed all the different colors of the clay together making it one giant rainbow ball of clay.  
  
The shout of indignation was the same from both Sonic and Shadow as he threw their cars under the railing of the heater. Amy was enraged as Misty broke down into tears when he came by and demolished the castle they had only just finished building to perfection.  
  
There was a moment of silence before all six children came to the same conclusion..." I'm telling!!" they shouted at almost the same exact time as they raced over to their new teacher.  
  
Needless to say, their teacher was overwhelmed when all of them bombarded her with their complaints, but one thing was clear, there was only one person they were complaining about.  
  
"Derek, come here please."  
  
The bear came to her obediently but there was a challenging look in his eyes. She ignored this and escorted  
  
him out of the classroom to speak with him, telling the others that she would be right outside and that they still had their free time.  
  
The nuisance gone the children got back to their activities but Onyx and Knuckles joined the other boys since their activity was the most ruined. Amy and Misty started to rebuild their castle while Sonic and Shadow got new cars from a basket kept on a shelf. Knuckles and Onyx grabbed two of their own and joined in as well, all of them "racing" with them. After a few minutes however, the girls were discouraged with the way their new castle was coming out and wanted to join the boys.  
  
"Can we play?" Misty boldly asked.  
  
"But it's for boys." Onyx answered quite confused, his sisters were older than him and never showed any interest in his games.  
  
"Okay, so then come play with us!"  
  
Sonic raised a suspicious brow at this; he knew Amy's ways to well. "No way Amy, I don't think anyone here wants to play house."  
  
Her remaining two brothers heard these horrible words and quickly shook their heads in agreement. "You are not making me the husband again!" Sonic added.  
  
"And I'm not going to be the nanny."  
  
"And I'm not going to be the baby." Shadow added in knowing that she had conned them all into those parts before.  
  
Onyx looked on amazed. "How do you play h----"  
  
Knuckles quickly covered the cat's mouth shaking his head wildly. "You don't want to know, trust me."  
  
Amy quickly turned on the charm as Misty giggled. " Come on we need a daddy!"  
  
"No!" The boys called out not willing to give in.  
  
"Please?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Pretty please?"  
  
"No way."  
  
"How about if...."  
  
However Amy's pleading was cut short as their teacher walked back in with a calmer Derek. He seemed gentler but they were wary of him.  
  
"Class, free time is over, but that doesn't mean that we won't be having any more fun! Next we will have art time!"  
  
"Art?" Knuckles inquired voicing everyone's confusion.  
  
"Yes art, you will be able to make pretty pictures for your parents with your fingers!"  
  
The four siblings looked at each other with a familiar look that meant one thing...'huh?'  
  
Going into a cabinet that was in the corner at the end of the room, Mrs. Spinoza pulled out smocks, paints and large papers. She then demonstrated the art of finger painting. Sonic smiled, now this was something new and exciting. Maybe there was some hope for this school thing after all.  
  
They all had to sit at the table once again to begin their masterpieces. Tiny tongues stuck out in concentration as they created works of art. Everything was going just fine, until hurricane Derek decided to show its ugly face again....  
  
Shadow had been sitting next to him as they worked when by accident his arm bumped Derek's as he was reaching for a certain color of paint. Derek had been holding a container of paint at the time as well and with the bump to his arm, ended up spilling it all over his painting of a sun.  
  
Black eyes burned with a certain fire as Derek looked at the shorter boy expectantly. Shadow never was one who had let himself be intimidated when confronted and merely looked him in the eyes calmly. ".... Sorry..."  
  
"You're sorry?!?"  
  
"I said that didn't I? Can't you hear right? " The black hedgehog quickly retorted meeting the others icy  
  
glare.  
  
Derek smirked as he eyed Shadow's picture. "Then...I'm sorry too."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
But quicker than he could react, the bear had snatched the blue paint from the table and pulled back ready to spill it over the other's picture as well, but he miscalculated and ended up spilling the paint on the hedgehog.  
  
"Hey!" Shadow shouted indignantly as he stared at the blue paint dripping from the fur on his chest and arm. The others had stopped their work only to stare in horrified shock.  
  
Angered and slightly embarrassed, Shadow retaliated the only way he could think of. Grabbing paint off the table he flung it with all his might at the bear, smirking with triumph when it hit its mark. Green paint now dripped from Derek's face. However, a low growl from said bear immediately followed making Shadow think that maybe.... just maybe.... that wasn't such a good idea.  
  
With a louder growl of anger, Derek began throwing paint wildly hitting the remaining children and bystanders. They quickly joined in however and it became complete and total chaos. By the time Mrs. Spinoza was able to stop them they were all covered from head to toe in different colored paint.   
  
Heads hung low and eyes downcast, the children nodded their understanding at the stern reprimanding she had given them. This was all their teacher needed of reassurance that it would not happen again and her attitude brightened almost immediately.  
  
"Good! Now let's get you all cleaned up for lunch, and then a nap."  
  
Upon hearing the dreaded "N" word, the four siblings in the room looked at each other once more, a fear in their eyes. "No nap!" They chorused immediately...some things never change...  
  
*___________________________________________________*  
  
"All right, Knuckles and I will keep the guard busy, giving you time to sneak in Sonic, and Shadow you keep guard this time, k?"  
  
A seven-year-old Sonic rolled his eyes as he looked towards the heavens. "Why don't Shadow or me just run in and grab it Amy?"  
  
"Because, we can't cheat! We have to do everything fair and square. Coach said so."  
  
"Coach smoach...."  
  
"You just want to go and show off anyway...."  
  
"It's not showing off Knux! Just gets it over with quicker...."  
  
"I still say you want to show off, lets just do it the way we are supposed to!"  
  
"Why don't we stop arguing about it and just do it...." Shadow cut in walking over to take his spot in front of their red flag.  
  
"Yea guys, I mean Misty and her team must already be coming towards us and we are nowhere near their flag!"  
  
"Lets get going then." the red echidna stated already walking ahead of the small group.  
  
The children were currently within in their school hours during a period called gym. Another two years had passed since they had first started school and things had not gotten better. The leaders of their resistance were distressed and had lost a certain fire to their spirits. Over the last two years they had attacked two towers of power within the oppressed city, one ending in victory, the other ending in horrible defeat. Destroying these towers was essential in the stopping of the evil genius as they were the harbors for his mechanical creations. But they had taken a risk in attacking and they had paid dearly for it. Many of the young teenagers that had been training to fight when Maya's adopted children were babies, were lost in the attack leaving their adoptive parents with a haunted look in their eyes and a deep hole in the spirits of all.  
  
Desperation they had not felt since the first day of the oppression took hold of their hearts once more. Both blood related and non-blood related parents were now reluctant to let their children go out and fight. However, with the encouragement of their leaders they reluctantly continued to train everyone including the young.  
  
The gym periods the school now had were nothing but training. It may have seemed like fun and games to the younger children, but they were lessons in tactics as well as building their fighting skills. It was games like "Capture the flag" that helped build skills in tactical planning. The game was simple in appearance, two teams of children, each having one child guarding a colored flag while the other teammates would go out and attempt to sneak up on the other's guard and capture their flag. If the two teams should meet along the way, it was considered a face off and they could either try to escape their opponents or try and capture their flags tied on a belt around their waists to take them out of the game. Meanwhile their coach was keeping an eye on them always.   
  
Amy, Knuckles and Sonic made their way through the thick section of woods they were supposed to stay in, each concealing themselves but knowing where the others were at all times. They moved as stealthily as possible for a group of seven year olds, but they still bumped into Misty, Onyx and Loretta. Loretta was a young chipmunk girl who had joined their class a year earlier. Seeing all three of them together meant one thing and one thing alone...Derek was guarding the flag.  
  
They all shudder slightly at the thought. Derek was still a bully that they had to constantly fight off. Two years had done nothing to improve his temper or attitude and even though everyone had confronted him constantly, he still was under the impression that he was superior.   
  
Along with this mentality, his height and built made him feel he was invincible and therefore could pick fights and win easily over the smaller children. Given the general advice on how to deal with bullies, all the children had tried to become friends with him at one point, but for reasons unknown he simply refused to attempt to become friends with any of them, preferring to be alone and at times it seemed that they simply annoyed him.  
  
So the children complied with his wishes and left him alone, until he would begin to bother them. They were no longer intimidated by him, having learned that they could yell just as loudly as he could and comforted by the fact that they outnumbered him...yet...there was always that fear of pain that still made them respect him and stay out of his reach. This is why knowing that he was guarding the opposing team's flag was so disturbing. They would have to sneak by him and grab the flag; it would prove to be a very difficult task indeed. Derek never let his guard down, always looking about and capturing everything with his sharp eyes. And if they were indeed caught, they would have to confront him and they now feared he would abuse his position to be unnecessarily violent.  
  
Realizing this, Knuckles, Amy and Sonic shared a knowing look...they would have to save their energy. They chose to flee from the opposing team instead of having a stand off. Sonic almost left his teammates behind, forgetting to control his speed to one that they could keep up with. Knuckles had gotten stronger and was able to keep him in his sight being only a few steps behind when he wasn't breaking the sound barrier but Amy could not keep him in her sight at all when he ran no matter how hard she tried.  
  
Stopping abruptly behind a fence of bushes close to their target. Sonic turned to see his siblings coming to stop behind him, Knuckles panting slightly while Amy was gasping like a fish out of water. "You okay Amy?" he whispered.  
  
"Yea...." She took in a deep breath of life giving oxygen and then frowned. "But don't do that again!"  
  
Sonic merely grinned sheepishly and shrugged his shoulders. "So.... what are we going to do about bear butt?"  
  
Knuckles smirked at the comment but stayed composed otherwise. "What else? Go in there and take that flag!"  
  
Amy fought off the urge to roll her eyes. "Don't you think we need a plan?"  
  
Both boys shrugged in response once more making her want to scream. "Look...how...about this time you do just run in Sonic?" She asked nervously, obviously being the only one who was truly intimidated by the boy.  
  
The blue hedgehog shook his head and pointed without looking at the target behind them. "No can do, he's holding on to the flag."  
  
"But that's cheating!"  
  
Knuckles gave his sister a disbelieving look. "Did you really think he would be fair?"  
  
It was Amy's turn to shrug in response. "So...what now?"  
  
Sonic sighed, he knew his sister wouldn't like the answer but it was something they had to do. "We have to go and confront him...but at least make it look like we were trying to sneak in I guess."  
  
Amy did not try to hide they groan that escaped her lips. "Fine...Knuckles and I will go to the sides, Sonic you can come up the middle, you have a better chance at snatching the flag away."  
  
"Yeah yeah, sure." The blue hedgehog answered impatiently, he just wanted to get this over with.  
  
It only took a few moments for the three children to get into their places and with a quick as lightning hand signal, all three leapt into action. Derek, having no defense since his own team was trying to steal the other's flag, jumped slightly at the sudden commotion, but it was only out of surprise...not fear.  
  
He calmly watched as all three-came charging at him. The blue hedgehog reached him first and reached out to grab the flag, but he quickly slapped him away sending him rolling a couple of feet away. His brother came in quickly demanding that his attention be turned to him, the red echidna attempted to punch him, but he dodged easily and always sent him flying in a different direction.  
  
Amy came up shortly after, pounding him on the arm incessantly trying to get him to loosen his hold on the flag. Derek watched her bemusedly for two seconds before he lost his patience. He grabbed her by the collar of her dress and flung her away as he had done with the others.  
  
However unlike her brothers, she had landed wrong and let out a yelp of both surprise and pain at the sudden harsh impact with the ground. All four siblings were incredibly protective of each other even though sometimes they refused to show it. Upon hearing their sister cry out with pain, both brothers charged at the bear enraged.  
  
"Leave her alone!" Sonic cried running in kicking and punching at the big bear.  
  
Knuckles was not far behind and drew back his fist driving it in forcefully into Derek's stomach, successful in driving him back a couple of feet clutching his stomach. "You!!" he growled as he regained his breath, eyes blazing with fire as he pointed at Knuckles. "I'll hurt you for this!"  
  
Knuckles was unfazed by his threats. "Yeah right."  
  
That was all the bear needed to fuel his already burning fire... without a second thought he charged. He ran at the echidna and kicked him sending him rolling away again once more. This time Knuckles could not help but cry out as well. Sonic could not take it and charged towards the bear once more, he blindly kicked and punched him, but he could feel the other's thick fur coat...perhaps he wasn't even feeling his attacks? His eyes glanced over to where his brother as he was trying to recover from the blow...apparently only his punches could do the most damage.  
  
As he was contemplating this however, Derek had taken his carelessness to his advantage and had lifted him up by one of his quills and hurled him roughly. He would have been all right...if he hadn't been thrown into the direction of a tree, and made contact with it. The last thing he had seen and heard as a black blanket began to cover his vision was his brother charging at the bear and the whistle of their coach as he came charging in to stop everything...he was angry as he fell into the abyss...where had their teacher been before when they really needed him?  
  
~*_________________________________________________~*  
  
A sharp eerie sound was what he awoke to as Sonic was finally able to open his eyes. Already lying facing the heavens, he could see a plane above him...falling.  
  
With a groan and a lot of effort to rise, the young hedgehog was both shocked and confused as he watched the plane continue its erratic downward spiral. With a squint of the eyes he could see a parachute. Shortly after, the plane finally crashed with a loud explosion. But in the skies the parachute was landing much more slowly, a precious bundle in its grasp.  
  
Sonic kept his eyes on it until it finally landed in some foliage across a large clearing from him. It was then that he realized that he was still in the area that he and his siblings had been fighting Derek. Had they not found him? His young heart clenched at the thought of simply being abandoned, but looking around himself showed that, he was covered by a thick fence of bushes a good distance away from where the flag had been standing. "They couldn't find me..." He stated softly as he stood and unconsciously started to move towards the area where he had seen the bundle land.  
  
His young mind was spinning with questions, including questions about what was the end result of the confrontation with Derek, but more with what he had just witnessed. Pure curiosity pulled him towards the bundle. At first he was disheartened as he could not find it, he was in the right area but he did not pinpoint where it landed exactly.  
  
Another shrill cry assaulted his ears and they perked instinctively, turning to and fro, attempting to find the direction of where the sound was coming from. There was another cry and this time he was able to follow it. It sounded like someone was crying and he wanted to help. He was more than surprised however when the crying brought him straight to the bundle he had been looking for.  
  
He stood a few feet away watching the bundle warily as it moved slightly and continued to make the crying noise. He approached it slowly and finally walked boldly to it as it became clear that it wasn't going to move any farther...if only that crying would stop.  
  
He picked up the bundle and peered into to it...only to gasp in shock. In his arms was a baby. A baby fox. This was the cause of all the incessant crying. However as it saw that someone had finally picked it up and was paying attention to it, it stopped and giggled playfully smiling at the blue hedgehog.  
  
Sonic stared at it uncertainly, unsure of what to do. His heart melted however when the baby smiled and cooed at him reaching up his small hands towards him. With a nod of a silent decision he held the baby close to his chest and started to run back in the direction of his house. Another look up to the sky showed that it was getting dark and he knew that his family was worrying about him.  
  
Not having to worry about controlling his speed, a mile trip from the clearing to his house was cleared in mere seconds, the baby laughing and making noises of enjoyment the entire way. Sonic smiled brightly at his adoptive mother as she opened the door her eyes red and puffy indicating that she had been crying...yep they had been worried.  
  
"Sonic!! Oh my goodness hun, where have you been! We couldn't find you! " She cried throwing her arms around him ignoring the bundle in his arms for the moment.  
  
"I was still in the clearing.... I hit my head and fell asleep." He stated calmly making her eyes widen.  
  
"That Derek boy did that to you? I swear they should not allow him to train until his attitude is fixed! I'm sorry to say this but I'm glad that your brother broke his nose..."  
  
"He did what?"  
  
Knuckles came into the doorway smirking proudly having heard. "Yeah I let him have it!"  
  
"Knuckles dear...."  
  
Knuckles grinned sheepishly at his mother and shrugged, he couldn't help but be proud of his deed. But his mother still gave him a stern look even though she had just admitted that she agreed with his actions. "I don't want you to resort to such violence again, don't get a swelled head and go around hitting people just for fun or because you are angry...only when you need to like today okay? We already had a talk remember?"  
  
Nodding the echidna headed back inside, but he was still glowing with pride. Sonic himself smirked, so that was what had happened before he blacked out.   
  
Maya sighed but smiled at her other son and began to usher him into the house, when a cry that was now familiar to Sonic, pierced the silence once more. The fox women stopped abruptly and stared at Sonic in shock. "Sweetie.... are you okay? That wasn't you was it?"  
  
Sonic laughed wholeheartedly as he shook his head and held out the bundle she had been ignoring out towards her, lifting the little flap of the blanket that covered the face of the tiny being within. "I found it." was his only explanation.  
  
Maya stared in shock at the baby fox in her arms as they all made their way back into the house. "You found it?" she asked incredulously.  
  
"Uh huh...I'm going to go play now, okay?" and with that the hedgehog ran off to be with his siblings.  
  
Maya just continued to examine the bundle in her arms, the baby was not an infant, it was a few months old at least and had big bright green-blue eyes staring at her with three strands of hair falling into them slightly. Its fur was a sable color and it seemed healthy as it was laughing and holding onto her fingers.  
  
She couldn't help but fall in love with the child already...it was just too adorable. But Sonic's explanation of him finding it confused her and she was determined to get more answers from him. Shifting the baby in her arms another piece of the blanket it was wrapped in exposed itself showing an embroidered name.  
  
"...Miles Prower..." she mused as she cooed at the baby. "Well hello Miles." she said sweetly tickling his stomach gently earning a giggle and made her way into the living room. Yes her son would have a lot of explaining to do.  
  
___-___-___-___-___-___-___-___-___-___-___-___-___-___-___-___-  
  
Okay, time for personal shout outs:  
  
Nibbs: Thank you so much for your kind words, they really warmed my heart and meant a lot to me, and you do deserve cookies! Lol, too bad I can't give you them for real. Here: ( :_:) ( :_:) ( :_:) ( :_:) ( :_:)...kinda funky looking but I tried. Lol.  
  
Krystal the Echidna: It's okay at least you reviewed now! ^_^ Hopefully you will continue to do so and you liked this chapter! A cookie for you too. ^_^.. ( :_:)  
  
Windfield: You are another one I owe cookies. Thank you for always reviewing. ( :_:) ( :_:) ( :_:) ( :_:) ( :_:)  
  
Nick Issac Hedgehog: I finally updated! Woo hoo! Lol hope it was worth the wait, thank you for your patience. ( :_:) ( :_:) ( :_:) ( :_:) ( :_:)  
  
Suzaku no miko: Thank you too! Ditto with Nick's message. Lol ( :_:) ( :_:) ( :_:) ( :_:) ( :_:)  
  
There. I have now given out the cookies. o_0 (Don't mind my stupidness I just wanted to show that I am grateful, Lol.) Thanks again! 


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